His Edelweiss
by LNIYE
Summary: On a rainy day, he held out a hand for her, and pretended he could help, even if his misery resembled her. A tale of devotion, affection and love, nothing less, nothing more.


**His Edelweiss**

**Hello, that's my first Hetalia fic, so have pity on me, don't hesitate to tell me what you thought.**

**His Edelweiss**

****_Chapter one_

The streets under this heavy, dark sky were empty and silent, except for a young girl who was stumbling her way through the alleys. The rain was falling on her hair, blond like honey, as well as on the torn up dress she had been wearing for the past few days. Her green eyes wandered here and there, but there was no one in sight. She had seen men, women and children begging for food, but there wasn't anyone anymore. Her country, so splendorous, so beautiful, so rich and peaceful, was now in shambles.

"I don't have money anymore. I don't have anything at all. I don't even have food to eat..."

There was a single question that kept echoing in Lili's head.

_What am I going to do?_

She had not eaten a complete meal in days, only scraps of food. She leaned against the wall of a shop that had been forced to close for obvious reasons. He let herself slide to the pavement, exhausted, filled with the hunger that plagued the Liechtenstein. She shut her eyes, ready to let hunger, diseases and death get the best of her. She wished she could have lived longer, though.

She didn't hear the footsteps that were slowly approaching from her. A boy with pale, blond hair and intense green eyes was coming this way. He came to a halt at a safe distance, watching her. She seemed so week and vulnerable. His own territory was stricken with poverty and drought, but his natural compassion was still pushing him to go and make sure that the people around him were were feeling alright. He had obviously seen that things were not better over here.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She obviously was not feeling well at all. As Lili heard him, she barely opened her eyes to look at him. It took her a great deal of effort to actually manage to lift her gaze enough to look at him in the eyes. Even if he looked serious, at least he seemed to care about her well-being. The young man's clothes weren't in the best state either, so she concluded that he did not have that much money either. She sighed softly, unable to answer. She felt ashamed, looking like this in front of this stranger, but she actually didn't really care. The male was also tired, but it didn't stop him from coming closer. He crouched next to her, brought her hand around his neck and lift her up. She did not show any signs of resistance. Despite the fact that he was still young, he was rather strong, and besides, she was pretty light. She was really feeble, but she still had enough strength to close her hands on his clothes. She blushed lightly and let her head rest on his chest, as he was bringing her somewhere. She had no idea what he was doing, but whatever he had in store for her could not be worse than her current situation. He could kill her, it would only shorten her suffering. He could sexually abuse of her, it would only make her feel some warmth. Yet he did not seem like a bad person: his arms were reassuring, his scent, sweet and his voice, calm and appeasing. She could not really make out the words that were flowing out of his lips, though.

"I'm bringing you to my home. You need rest and food, and you'll have a roof above your head."

He lowered his gaze to look at the young woman. Her eyes were closed, even if she held him firmly. He felt the unexplainable desire to actually protect her.

The young man lived in a mansion, somewhere in the countryside. The house was surrounded by tall, snowy mountains and deep, pure lakes. The air was sweet, fresh and exalting. Yet, the wind carried the rancid odour of death and poverty. It was really late at night when he pushed open the door to his home. He was more and more tired but, refusing to let it show, he slowly went up the stairs to his room, on the second floor. It's with relief that he put the girl in her bed. He stretched his weary arms and twisted his stiff wrists. Feeling her position changing, Lili opened her eyes, half asleep. Her vision was blurry, but she could still see the young man, who was looking in a closet. He was looking for clothes that she could wear for the moment. He chose a big, white shirt that he usually wore to sleep. Thinking that the young girl was asleep, he approached her again. He wanted to undress her to then put the shirt on her. He approached his hands and, realizing what he was doing, hesitated and pulled away. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes, thinking:

"You aren't doing anything wrong. She will understand! You undo the corset, you pull down on the dress and you put the shirt on her without looking at her. Simple!"

But it was not that simple. He could not do such a thing. He bit his lip, trying to convince himself that it was alright. When he put a shaking hand on her to untie the dress, she slightly opened up her eyes again.

"That's what I thought..." she said to herself.

Men were not to be trusted. Yet, Lili did not seem to care anymore. She could not even push him away, and she did not even have the strength to beg him to be gentle. She could feel the material of her dress slide on her skin, softly, as if he was trying not to wake her up. She shut her eyes again, feeling tears forming in her eyes. She would have liked this to happen in a romantic, sweet way, but apparently, she had no choice anymore.

Was she going to lose her virginity like this?

The boy pulled on the dress and noticed that, since she was poor, she did not have any underwear on. He instantly averted his eyes, but he had to look at her if he wanted to put the clothes on her. She had a really petite frame and was really thin, and her chest was rather small, but she was still a girl. Of course, she was getting scared. She was getting ready to feel his hands on her breast and hips, and she knew it would hurt. Yet nothing came. The young man lifted her back just enough to be able to bring the shirt under her. He carefully slid her arms in the sleeves, trying not to look to intently at her. He then buttoned her shirt really quickly. That is when she fully opened her big, teary eyes. Surprised, the male jumped away.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I swear I wasn't intent on doing things to you!"

She finally started to cry. Who was this kind young man who was helping her, without thinking about anything wrong? Seeing her cry made him bite his lip again, nervous. She stayed on her back, he hands in her face.

"I didn't touch you inappropriately... I just wanted for you to wear dry clothes..."

She was crying silently, closing her thighs tightly. This man was actually a benefactor. He stayed there, waiting for her to talk to him, to tell him that she forgave him, or that she understood. She could have also told him to leave. She did not do anything, so tired and hungry. She finally calmed down a bit and she brought the blanket over her, not saying anything. The boy figured that it would take time for her to speak to him. He silently left the room, shutting the door behind himself. He went down the stairs and went to the living room. He let himself fall in the couch, sleepy. Yet he kept thinking about the poor girl. He sure hoped she would be alright. He shut his eyes, thinking about what he had seen of her body. He blushed and curled up, remembering her fair skin and small frame. She looked so pure, so sweet, so fragile... He sighed and brought an old and small blanket over his body, trying to sleep. It was not really difficult, since he had spent such a long, difficult day.

The girl cried even more as he left. She had buried her face in the blankets, muffling her pitiful little cries. She was so tired and hungry, and she was in an unfamiliar environment. She basically cried herself to sleep. The smell of the covers was actually reassuring. Maybe the furniture was old, but she felt warm and safe. She even managed to have a rather peaceful dream. So peaceful that maybe she was actually drifting to life's sweet release.

The morning dawned upon the fantastic mountains that now seemed to echo with the toll of the funeral bells. It was those that actually woke Lili up. She slowly sat on the bed, her green eyes ever so dull. She got up and looked out the window. There were snowy mountains, a lake, and a rather quiet atmosphere. Aside from the still splendorous nature that still seemed dull under those grey skies, she noticed that there was a barn, and that its doors were opened, moving and creaking under the gentle wind. She then remembered the boy that had brought her in. She felt shame, realizing that she had not thanked him yet. She exited the house and, thinking she could hear noises coming from downstairs, she carefully went to the first floor. She went to the kitchen and, seeing him cutting bread, she quickly jumped out of sight, trembling. Why was her heart beating like this? Was it fear?

"Are you awake?"

His voice made her jump and she even let out a small scream. His head suddenly appeared from the doorway, and he locked his tired, serious eyes on her. Feeling his gaze, she held her thighs together some more, thinking that she should have tried to find something to cover her legs. Fortunately, the shirt was long enough to cover half her thighs. He looked maybe a bit too much at her long, thin legs. Not only because they looked pleasant, but also because they looked so frail. Realizing what he was doing, he averted his eyes, blushing slightly.

"You must be hungry... I have food for you."

Hearing him mention food seemed to give her confidence again. She blinked and followed him inside the dining room, pushed by her hunger. She smiled when she saw some bread on the table, as well as a few fruits that were in a more or less good state, and even a piece of meat! She sat down and looked up at the other boy. She was unable to look at him in the eye for a long moment, so she blushed and looked down at the food.

"Can I... really have this?" she asked in a tiny, meek voice.

"Oh, yes, it is all yours."

She did not need more than this to be convinced. She pulled the plate closer and started to eat fast. Even if the bread was a bit dry, the meant, unsavoury and the fruits, not really fresh, it felt like manna from the heavens. The man smiled really slightly, noticing how eager she was. He was sitting nearby, watching her, watching her trembling hands, her thin features, her now wide green eyes.

"Is it good?" he asked.

She nodded and looked at him, realizing that he was actually looking at her plate.

"You aren't eating?"

He realized what he was doing and looked back at her face, before he shrugged.

"I already ate."

She nodded and resumed eating, having no difficulty finishing up her plate. She sighed in relief, as the young male was handing her a glass of milk. She took it and drank, it was warm and oh so reassuring, in a way. She finally smiled at the boy, shutting her eyes.

"Thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?"

He smiled slightly, as the image of her naked body appeared to his mind. His smile froze and he shook his head, trying to make it disappear. If he had been some sort of vulgar, deviant man, he probably would have said that this image was enough to repay him for anything.

"You could start by telling me what your name is."

"Oh!"

She blushed and lowered her head.

"I'm Lili Vogel..."

He tilted his head, thinking it was a rather cute name.

"Well, my name is Vash Zwingli."

Lili suddenly had the strange feeling that they were not strangers anymore. She smiled again, with a bit more conviction. What a nice man he was. She actually wanted to stay here with him, even if she knew it would be better for her to go back home. Vash took the plates and put them in the sink. He then went towards the door.

"I have a little something for you."

She blinked and watched him leave, wondering what he was referring to. Vash went back to the living room and picked up her dress. Only, he had modified it, since it was in a pretty bad state. He had carefully patched up the holes in it, and had replaced the sleeves with those from a white shirt he was not using anymore. Sure, it was not really good looking, but it was better than nothing for the time being. He brought it over and handed it to her, still with his tired, serious expression. She blinked when she recognized her dress, but there was something different about it. She smiled and took it away from him.

"Thank you-"

She realized that he had patched it and that he had replaced the sleeves. She blinked, unsure how to react. She was happy, of course, but no boy had done this for her before. He frowned slightly, feeling her hesitation. Actually, his hunger had woken him up really early this morning and, unable to go back to sleep, he had worked on her clothes.

"You don't like it," he said.

She looked up at him and shook her head.

"No, I love it... I just can't believe you did this for me! Thank you so much!"

If she had known him a little better, surely she would have tried to hug him, even if he did not look like the type of man who would accept such behaviour. He felt relieved. He smiled lightly getting out of the doorway.

"Go put it on, miss Vogel."

She nodded and hurried back to the room where she had slept. As she entered, she looked at the messy bed. She bit his lip, thinking that if he was so kind to her, she could try and take care of the environment she was now in. She made the bed and, once she was satisfied with it, took off the shirt. As she was taking time to go back down, Vash came and knocked on the door. She jumped and hid her body with the shirt, looking back at the door.

"Is everything alright?"

Lili recognized the voice of the Swiss. She sighed in relief, wondering why he seemed worried like this.

"Yes, don't come inside!"

She sighed and dropped the shirt to the floor and started to put the dress on. She spun on herself and looked in the small mirror. Seeing how messy her hair was as well, she undid her braids and used her fingers to straightened them. She then made a single braid, Before she went out of the room. The boy was standing close to the door, with a still worried expression. As he saw her he looked neutral again, looking at the dress. It was not that good looking, but it sure was better than nothing. Actually, she was pretty enough to make anything look good. He was glad that he had brought her in.


End file.
